Sur le même thème que "Confirmed: Christmas Is Creeping [Christmas Creep]"

Christmas Creep Is Mutating At Walgreens: "Halloween Trees?" Seriously? [Christmas Creep]

It's bad enough when people send us pictures of Halloween decorations mixed in with Christmas ones, but a "Halloween Tree"? What the hell is a "Halloween Tree?" Wikipedia says The Halloween Tree is a novel by Ray Bradbury, but somehow I don't think this is what he had in mind. Maybe the Halloween decorations are mating with the Christmas trees? (Thanks, Darrell!) Read More: KB Toys: Who Needs Halloween When You Have The "Pre-Holidays" Instead?, Merry September! Christmas Is In Full Swing At Rite Aid!, Confirmed: Christmas Is Creeping, Lowe's Halloween Decorations Are Already Sick Of Christmas [lien] [EN]

Merry September! Christmas Is In Full Swing At Rite Aid! [Christmas Creep]

Halloween is about a month away, but it's too late to start thinking about that now. You've got Christmas crap to buy! Reader Aaron says: Today I was in Rite Aid in Bellport, NY with my wife getting her prescription filled. When we walked down an aisle, I was greeted by a nice, long display of Christmas decorations and items to purchase! I groaned and told my wife how it is just obscene and obnoxious to have this stuff out when it's September and I'm still wearing shorts. I mean, Halloween is still a month away! Anyhow, I share in your anger of how a single day out of 365 is exploited beyond belief. Aaron, you're just lazy. By today's standards, you should have been buying your Halloween decorations two months ago. Get with the program! Read More: Confirmed: Christmas Is Creeping , Lowe's Halloween Decorations Are Already Sick Of Christmas , September Is Christmastime At Target! , Target Is Apparently Aware Christmas Isn't Anytime Soon [lien] [EN]

Christmas Creep: Radio Stations Are In Full Holiday Mode [Christmas Creep]

If you thought that you could avoid Christmas Creep by staying out of stores — think again. It's annoying you on the radio as well. Reader Matt says: I'm probably one of the biggest fans of the Christmas holiday on the planet but the spirit isn't typically shown after Thanksgiving. I've gotten a few laughs on how many stores started with the Christmas Creep extremely early this year. Well it extends beyond the stores. After dropping my fiancee off at Logan Airport this morning, which is in Boston for those not familiar with the area, I started scanning the radio to find some decent tunes. And what did I find on Oldies 103.3? You guessed it Christmas music. When I got home and took a look at their website, http://www.oldies1033.com/ , it really put the icing on the cake. The "holiday season" has gotten out of control this year and I just wanted to share my experience with you guys. Read More: Christmas Creep Confessions: We Played Christmas Music On Halloween, Walmart Stores Begin Playing Christmas Music, Just What The Heck Is Halloween Egg Nog?, CVS: 'Tis The Season... In October [lien] [EN]

It's July, Time To Put Out The Christmas Decorations... [Christmas Creep]

Reader Kelly wants to let us know that July isn't too early for a candle store at her local mall to start its Christmas marketing push... Last night during a leisurely stroll through the mall, I happened to snap a shot of the Christmas Creep in a storefront window. And it's only July! The picture is pretty crappy — I took it with my Blackberry, but I thought I would share it anyway. You know, there's only 148 days until Christmas! Nooooooooo. Christmas Creep in July? We realize they're probably trying to be funny, but for some reason we still find it depressing. [lien] [EN]

Dear Radio City Music Hall, Christmas Is Not "Right Around The Corner" In August [Christmas Creep]

Reader Scott says he spotted some nasty summertime Christmas Creep in the free NYC area paper "Metro". Apparently the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular is under the impression that "Christmas is right around the corner." In August. ... the show starts it's run on November 7th! I'm still too high on Halloween candy on Nov 7th to start thinking about Xmas (Full disclosure: I'm Jewish, so I really couldn't give a crap about Xmas anyway, but you get my point). We get your point loud and clear, Scott. Have you seen some Christmas Creep? Tell us about it at tips@consumerist.com. [lien] [EN]

Michaels Arts & Crafts Rolls Out The Christmas Display The First Week Of August [Christmas Creep]

Reader Sam writes in to let us know he found some Christmas Creep at a Michaels craft store. He sent along some pictures he took in early August, 142 days before Christmas. Check out the full set here (caption has a bad word). Have you seen some Christmas Creep? Tell us about it at tips@consumerist.com. [lien] [EN]

This Garden Ridge Christmas Display Is Obscenely Unseasonal [Christmas Creep]

We thought Hobby Lobby's August Christmas trees might be the height of this season's Christmas Creep, but wow were we wrong. Garden Ridge is striving to be a one-stop panacea for all your summer Christmas needs. They're already stocking Christmas trees, ornaments, lights, snowy yard inflatables, and what looks like a snow toboggan complete with Tigger, Winnie The Pooh, and everybody's favorite Christmas downer, Eeyore! Tipster Rex spotted the summer yuletide display in Oklahoma City. About 10 days ago we were buying some crap at Garden Ridge. Seasonally correct crap, stuff for summer use. The place is being set up for full on Christmas sales. Notice the Christmas trees, yard inflatables and a whole collection of ornaments and toys. You should have seen the staff they had decorating trees and stocking shelves. This image was taken August 13, 2008. It's completely stupid right?! It's not completely stupid. That yard inflatable is the perfect place to escape the 94 degree scorcher expected to grace Oklahoma today. [lien] [EN]

Christmas Wrapping Paper Spotted At Walgreens [Christmas Creep]

Reader James says he spotted this Christmas-themed wrapping paper lurking on the top shelf at Walgreens, waiting to strike... Most agree that AFTER Thanksgiving should be the start of the CHRISTMAS season, but this idea has been lost on retail for a long, long time. I spotted this wrapping paper at Walgreens, and although its on the unreachable top shelf and probably just overflow from the stock room, I definitely think it qualifies. Christmas Creep at Walgreens [FutureGringo] [lien] [EN]

Christmas Creep Confessions: We Played Christmas Music On Halloween [Christmas Creep]

An anonymous reader, who works at a certain bookstore, says that her manager started playing Christmas music a week before Halloween... and on Halloween itself. My manager began playing Christmas music the week before Halloween. I've had numerous customers come up to me and complain.. saying we're pushing to much into the season. The music continues to play, nonstop. We only stopped for a short hour or two on Halloween to play Michael Jackson's "Thriller" a couple of times. Christmas is here, at Borders Books and Music in Massachusetts. Read More: Walmart Stores Begin Playing Christmas Music, Just What The Heck Is Halloween Egg Nog?, CVS: 'Tis The Season... In October, "Black Friday" Starting At Halloween This Year [lien] [EN]

KB Toys: Who Needs Halloween When You Have The "Pre-Holidays" Instead? [Christmas Creep]

Reader Meg says that she saw this sign at KB Toys in New Jersey and just had to go back and take a picture. She's wondering why we can't have Halloween anymore without mentioning Christmas. Meg says: It really disturbs me. Pumpkins should NOT wear Santa hats, and little candy corns should NOT mingle with Christmas trees! Seemingly we can't even have Halloween anymore without the mention of Christmas! Yeah! This is Halloween, Halloween, Halloween... Read More: Merry September! Christmas Is In Full Swing At Rite Aid!, Confirmed: Christmas Is Creeping, Lowe's Halloween Decorations Are Already Sick Of Christmas, September Is Christmastime At Target! [lien] [EN]

‘Tis the Season for Post-Christmas Bias at the New York Times

Does the New York Times let bias creep into its post-Christmas reports on the shopping season just completed? Smart-aleck answer: Is Maureen Dowd obsessed with Dick Cheney? (His name appears in 295 of her columns, all but four appearing during the last 7-plus years. That would be almost 40 Cheney inclusions per year, probably close to half the number of columns she has written during that time.) After reviewing 17 years of those reports, the answer is a definitive “Yes.” For each year from 1991 through 2007, I went back to the Times’s first or near-first post-Christmas report on the shopping season. I expected to find blue sky and sunshine during the Clinton years, and gloom as far as the eye can see during Bush 41 and Bush 43. While it wasn’t quite that bad, the bias is there, and it’s more obvious in recent years. Here’s a quick summary of what I found: · In most years prior to 1998 for which comparisons were possible, the Old Grey Lady’s take on the shopping season matched or was worse that reality, with one exception — its take on the 1992 season after Bill Clinton defeated Bush 41 was “Great,” with lots of favorable quotes thrown in, while the reality was “Very Good.” · But for the five seasons after that, starting in 1998-2002, the paper’s assessment matched reality. In 1998, the Times writer even cited Bill Clinton’s impeachment and bombing in Iraq as factors that shoppers ignored. · In each of the past five Christmas shopping seasons, the Times’s assessment of the results has been worse than reality. The reality v. Times disconnect was especially glaring in 2004 - 2006. Those years, in reality were Good to Very Good, but the Times saw each result as Fair, with side helpings of snideness courtesy ofreporter Michael Barbaro in 2005 and 2006. · Especially noteworthy is the comparison between 1998 (a 5.8% sales increase, evaluated as Very Good by the Times) and both 2004 and 2005 (increases of 6.0% and 6.3%, respectively, both evaluated as Fair). Below, I have shown the following for each year: · The Times headline. · The actual retail sales increase for the Christmas shopping season, as reported by the National Retail Federation (NRF). Note that the related Times reports often use different results, such as incomplete data from either Visa USA or MasterCard International, instead of the more comprehensive NRF. Most of the results are from this NRF graph (click on “Historical Holiday Sales” at this link for the PDF file): · A descriptive early sentence from the report. · An evaluation of the real result and the Times’s assessment of the result.   (Click “More” if you are on the home page to see the detail.) +++++++++++++ President: Bush 43 · 12.26/2007 — “Disappointing Sales During Holiday Season”; 3.6% (preliminary, not from NRF, whose preseason estimate was 4.0%); “American consumers ….. delivered the bleak holiday shopping season retailers had expected.” Reality: Fair (pending possible adjustment); Times Assessment: Poor. · 12/26/2006 — “Rush at End, but Holiday Sales Fall Short”; 4.6%; “There is always next year.” Reality: Good. Times Assessment: Fair · 12/27/2005 — “The Day After Christmas, Shoppers Take a Holiday”; 6.3%; “Better luck later this week.” Reality: Very Good. Times Assessment: Fair. · 12/28/2004 — “Retail in Review: More Bah Than Sis-Boom”; 6.0%; “(Analysts) offered their latest judgment of the Christmas shopping season yesterday: good, but not great.” Reality: Very Good. Times Assessment: Fair. · 12/27/2003 — “Sales Results for the Holiday Trickle In and Trickle Up”; 5.0%; “….. it became clear that this year’s holiday season was only ho-hum for most retailers, far from the one bursting with consumer cheer they had once hoped for.” Reality: Good. Times Assessment: Fair. · 12/27/2002 — “Growth in Sales for Holiday Period Is Lowest in Years”; 1.3%; “….. experts yesterday declared this year’s holiday season the worst in many years.” Reality: Poor. Times Assessment: Poor. Post-9/11 Shopping Season · 12/27/2001 — “Late Shopping Gives Retailers A Slight Boost”; 3.4%; “A surge of last-minute shopping may have given the nation’s retailers and the economy a small boost …..” Reality: Fair. Times Assessment: Fair. The Year of the Bush-Gore Election · 12/27/2000 — “Sales in Holiday Season Rose, Just Barely, Over Last Year’s”; 2.3%; “….. this year’s holiday shopping season is shaping up as among the worst in a decade, industry analysts said yesterday.” Reality: Poor. Times Assessment: Poor. President: Bill Clinton · 12/25/1999 — “Growth in Holiday Season’s Retail Sales May Set a 5-Year High”; 8.1%; “The millennium may turn out to be a bust, but by any measure Christmas 1999 was swinging.” Reality: Great. Times Assessment: Great. · 12/28/1998 — “Surge of Shopping in December Gives Merchants a Lift”; 5.8%; “Largely undistracted by the impeachment of President Clinton and the bombing of Iraq, American shoppers appear to have spent freely from wallets that still feel pretty fat, giving retailers a muscular, if not stellar, holiday season.” Reality: Very Good. Times Assessment: Very Good. · 12/28/1997 — “Retailers Finding Sales Disappoint for the Holidays”; 4.8%; “A sparkling economy, record-low unemployment and fatter paychecks failed to translate into the strapping holiday selling season American retailers were counting on.” Reality: Good. Times Assessment: Fair. · 12/25/1996 — “Holiday Retail Refrain: Better Than ‘95 but Not Good Enough”; 3.6%; “As surprise led to surprise and the season faded to a close yesterday, sales appeared to have been stronger than in last year’s dismal Christmas shopping season.” Reality: Fair. Times Assessment: Fair. · 12/25/1995 — “Retailers Report a Shopping Season Worth Forgetting”; 3.1%; “Hardened shoppers, perpetual sales and a snowstorm that blanketed the Northeast during the crucial final week of Christmas shopping combined to give retailers their worst holiday season in years …..” Reality: Fair. Times Assessment: Poor. First Christmas Season after “Gingrich Revolution” · 12/26/1994 — “Retailers’ Christmas Wishes Didn’t Come True This Year”; projected 6% (first listing at link); “The predictions of a strong holiday shopping season were apparently wishful thinking for many retailers, particularly in apparel.” Reality: Unknown, probably Good to Very Good. Times Assessment: Fair. · 12/27/1993 — “Late Sales Lift Results For Stores”; post-season estimate of 4%-6% (third listing at link); “….. many were relieved that a late surge of shopping would produce modestly respectable sales figures.” Reality: Good to Very Good. Times Assessment: Fair. Christmas Season After Bill Clinton Elected · 12/26/1992 — “A Sharp Rebound in Christmas Sales”; 5% to 6%; “It was a hair-raising holiday season for many of the nation’s retailers: sales started out strong, dropped off precipitously and finally skyrocketed the last weekend before Christmas ….. ‘People have shopped this year like there really is a Christmas’ ….. So much for the notion that Christmas was dead.” Reality: Very Good. Times Assessment: Great. President: Bush 41 · 12/26/1991 — “Retailers Report Sales Fell Short of Dim Forecasts”; 0.7% (first item at link); “Retailers would probably like to forget Christmas 1991. While most merchants had been prepared for a sluggish season, many said sales turned out to be even worse than expected.” Reality: Poor. Times Assessment: Poor.   Cross-posted at NewsBusters.org. [lien] [EN]

Now Available At Hobby Lobby: Christmas Trees? [Christmas Creep]

Why is Hobby Lobby selling Christmas Trees in August? WHY?! We can understand the tinsel and countdowns, maybe, but !@$% Christmas trees? This picture comes from Hutchinson, Kansas where it will be 92 degrees on Friday. We called Hobby Lobby for an explanation... A disarmingly unseasonal saleswoman explained that all Hobby Lobby locations now sell Christmas trees. They're not real, because real trees die after one month, nature's way of telling you to slow down and appreciate Thanksgiving. The saleswoman found nothing wrong with the new arrivals, and thought it was "great" that the trees were finally available in August. Reader Justin disagrees: From a store I've never heard of called "Hobby Lobby" in the small town of Hutchinson, Kansas. This picture was taken on August 12th. Seeing the Christmas trees this early literally made me sick to my stomach. Christmas is over four months away—126 days and counting—something we're going to remember and appreciate tomorrow as we relax on a hot sunny beach. [lien] [EN]

Lowe's Halloween Decorations Are Already Sick Of Christmas [Christmas Creep]

Reader Lee says, The Lowe's in Cary, NC already has Christmas decorations up. Right next to the Halloween decorations. Argh! It's not even the MLB post-season yet! [lien] [EN]

In Which I Channel Lloyd Christmas

So, Senator Hillary Clinton does an interview with the dipshits at "Fox & Friends," and they ask her what she thinks the chances are, on a scale of 1 to 10, that she'll be the next majority leader in the Senate. "Oh, probably zero," she said. "I'm not seeking any other position than to be the best senator from New York that I can be." Being nominated to the Supreme Court? "Zero," Clinton said. "I have no interest in doing that." Running for president again? "Probably close to zero," she said. "There's an old saying: Bloom where you're planted."And I immediately turn into Lloyd Christmas. Lloyd: What are my chances? Mary: Not good. Lloyd: You mean, not good like one out of a hundred? Mary: I'd say more like one out of a million. Lloyd: [long pause] So you're telling me there's a chance. YEAH!!!The whole president thing I'm pretty wev about (unless McCain *gag* wins), because who knows what the landscape will look like eight years from now. And SCOTUS is a nifty idea, but I doubt she could be confirmed without a veto-proof majority, and, even then, it would be a tough road. (And why the hell would she want to go through that?) But I would like to see her as Senate Majority Leader. And in my cozy little Lloyd Christmas world, the chances of Obama choosing her to be Secretary of Health and Human Services and her accepting the position are still eleven out of ten, because the "Fox & Friends" reprobates evidently didn't think to ask her about it. [lien] [EN]